Nucleic acid amplification technologies have provided a means of understanding complex biological processes, detection, identification, and quantification of pathogenic and non-pathogenic organisms, forensic criminology analysis, disease association studies, and detection of events in genetically modified organisms, etc. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a common thermal cycling dependent nucleic acid amplification technology used to amplify DNA consisting of cycles of repeated heating and cooling of the reaction for DNA melting and enzymatic replication of the DNA using a DNA polymerase. Real-Time quantitative PCR (qPCR) is a technique used to quantify the number of copies of a given nucleic acid sequence in a biological sample. Currently, qPCR utilizes the detection of reaction products in real-time throughout the reaction and compares the amplification profile to the amplification of controls which contain a known quantity of nucleic acids at the beginning of each reaction (or a known relative ratio of nucleic acids to the unknown tested nucleic acid). The results of the controls are used to construct standard curves, typically based on the logarithmic portion of the standard reaction amplification curves. These values are used to interpolate the quantity of the unknowns based on where their amplification curves compared to the standard control quantities.
In addition to PCR, non-thermal cycling dependent amplification systems or isothermal nucleic acid amplification technologies exist including, without limitation: Nicking and Extension Amplification Reaction (NEAR), Rolling Circle Amplification (RCA), Helicase-Dependent Amplification (HDA), Loop-Mediated Amplification (LAMP), Strand Displacement Amplification (SDA), Transcription-Mediated Amplification (TMA), Self-Sustained Sequence Replication (3SR), Nucleic Acid Sequence Based Amplification (NASBA), Single Primer Isothermal Amplification (SPIA), Q-Replicase System, and Recombinase Polymerase Amplification (RPA).
NEAR amplification has similarities to PCR thermocycling. Like PCR, NEAR amplification employs oligonucleotide sequences which are complementary to a target sequences referred to as primers in PCR and templates in NEAR. In addition, NEAR amplification of target sequences results in a logarithmic increase in the target sequence, just as it does in standard PCR. Unlike standard PCR, the NEAR reaction progresses isothermally. In standard PCR, the temperature is increased to allow the two strands of DNA to separate. In a NEAR reaction, the target nucleic acid sequence is nicked at specific nicking sites present in a test sample. The polymerase infiltrates the nick site and begins complementary strand synthesis of the nicked target nucleotide sequence (the added exogenous DNA) along with displacement of the existing complimentary DNA strand. The strand displacement replication process obviates the need for increased temperature. At this point, template/primer molecules anneal to the displaced complementary sequence from the added exogenous DNA. The polymerase now extends from the 3′ end of the template, creating a complementary strand to the previously displaced strand. The second template/primer oligonucleotide then anneals to the newly synthesized complementary strand and extends making a duplex of DNA which includes the nicking enzyme recognition sequence. This strand is then liable to be nicked with subsequent strand displacement extension by the polymerase, which leads to the production of a duplex of DNA which has nick sites on either side of the original target DNA. Once this is synthesized, the molecule continues to be amplified exponentially through replication of the displaced strands with new template molecules. In addition, amplification also proceeds linearly from each product molecule through the repeated action of the nick translation synthesis at the template introduced nick sites. The result is a very rapid increase in target signal amplification; much more rapid than PCR thermocycling, with amplification results in less than ten minutes.
Quantification has been problematic, however. Optimal performance of a real-time NEAR system depends on the generation and amplification of a specific product. NEAR systems are known to generate significant levels of non-specific background products in addition to the specific product by the reaction enzymes. These background products can serve as amplifiable entities and their generation can out-compete the generation of specific product. While it is possible to design detection probes specific to the desired target (and thus the specific product is detectable in a complex background), significant levels of non-specific background products sequester reaction components that may have otherwise been utilized for the amplification of the specific product. Thus, sequestration of reaction components due to non-specific background product generation results in a reaction that is suboptimal. This is particularly troublesome when the target nucleic acid is initially in very low abundance and where a highly optimized reaction is required for reliable detection of the target. Also, a suboptimal reaction may not represent true quantification of a target nucleic acid even though it is detectable. It would be advantageous to generate optimized NEAR reactions that eliminate the amplification of non-specific background products. Doing so would provide a reaction that is suitable for quantification either by a standard curve based system or relative quantification.
Also, it is common practice to evaluate NEAR reactions using mass spectrometry. High levels of background products can obscure the interpretation of mass spectrometry data. If, for instance, a reaction contains background products, one or more products derived from non-specific amplification (from related yet dissimilar targets), and the specific product, it would be challenging to identify these matrix-derived products from the background products. Elimination of background products leads to a clear determination of the performance/specificity of the particular assay.
Additionally, high levels of background products can impede the optimal amplification of intentionally-duplexed or multiplexed reactions. While multiple, differentially labeled detection probes are compatible with real-time detection, there still exists the problem of reactant limitations due to non-specific product formation. This is particularly true for duplex or multiplex reactions in that these reactions contain more than two templates/primers that can potentially form complex populations of background products. A NEAR reaction system that eliminates the amplification of background products also provides conditions for the detection of intentionally duplexed or multiplexed reactions in real time. It would be highly advantageous to provide a means to eliminate amplifiable background products thus maximizing the potential of generating specific products in NEAR reactions. It would be desirable if a quantitative result could be provided by accurately monitoring the progress of the reaction in real-time.